one plus one
by eponnia
Summary: Modern AU. "Thank you for turning my life upside down in the best possible way." [Sequel to "Pastels and Leather". 2014 filmverse Rapunzel's Prince/Rapunzel one-shot.]


**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the sequel to my first **_**Into the Woods**_** fic, **_**Pastels and Leather**_**. I'm not quite done with the adorableness that is Rapunzel's Prince (who I have named James Princeton) and Rapunzel. I know that their storyline in the movie doesn't line up with the stage version, but Billy Magnussen and Mackenzie Mauzy made me fall in love with them enough to make this ship one of my new OTPs. **

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><p>"Do you think you should see a doctor?" her husband asked, adjusting the temperature of the stove as he boiled chicken noodle soup. "You could just try to ride out this bug, but you've been sick for a few days now."<p>

Rapunzel sat on the couch of their apartment, nibbling on Saltines as her stomach churned. She had once again spent the morning throwing up in the bathroom while James held her hair. Rapunzel desperately hoped she was at least done vomiting for the day as she pulled her bare legs up to her chest, clad only in shorts, a sports bra, and James' sweatshirt, her golden hair piled in a messy bun on top her head. She watched James as he stirred the soup, and she swallowed the Saltine she had been chewing. "Seeing a doctor is a good idea, considering what's coming up in the next nine months."

"What's coming up in the next nine months?" James said distractedly, his back to her as he searched in drawers for a pot holder. Rapunzel smiled as he stopped and turned to face her.

"Wait." She could see him doing his best not to get his hopes up. "Are you... are you pregnant?"

She nodded, unable to stop the smile spreading across her face as he grinned before striding across the room and attempting to vault over the back of the couch, presumably to land sitting beside her. But he landed awkwardly on his side and nearly fell on top of her, scrambling upright with a concerned expression.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No," she said, starting to laugh.

"This is supposed to be a special moment," James said with over-the-top seriousness. "This is nothing to laugh about."

As she laughed even harder, he grinned and pulled her onto his lap as she shrieked. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he rested his head on her shoulder as she leaned back against his chest with a contented sigh.

"To be honest, it's not sinking in yet," James admitted.

"I still can't quite wrap my brain around it yet. But I am happy."

"So am I." He put a hand over her still-flat stomach, adding, "At least it's us having a kid. Can you imagine my brother if he had knocked up Cinderella or some other poor girl?"

"Oh my. He wouldn't know the first thing to do with a baby."

"I can just picture him..." James trailed off as a clatter came from the kitchen. Rapunzel moved to stand, but he untangled himself from her and leapt to his feet. "Stay! I'll go!" He bolted to the kitchen. "Shit! The soup!"

Rapunzel watched as he turned off the stove as the pot began overflowing, the lid clattering as the soup boiled rapidly. He moved the pot to another burner and tossed the pot holder to the counter with a sigh.

"If you want chicken noodle soup the temperature of lava, it's ready."

Rapunzel covered her mouth to stifle a laugh as she stood and joined her husband in the kitchen. "I love you," she said with a grin as she embraced him, resting her cheek on his chest.

"You're supposed to say that when I've made you a perfect meal, not when I ruined it."

"It's not _exactly_ ruined. Though your cooking skills need some work, I still love you."

"I love you too."

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><p>Rapunzel's eyes felt heavy as lead, but she couldn't stop gazing at the twins in her arms; she was determined that exhaustion would not keep her from spending the first hour with her children, even after such a difficult delivery. Alex, her firstborn, waved a tiny fist at her as Charlotte gave a small cough. The new mother smiled down at her son and daughter, completely happy.<p>

"They're beautiful."

Rapunzel looked up, heart leaping into her throat as she saw her mother standing in the doorway of the hospital room. Surprise joined her alarm and anger as she took in her mother's new appearance.

"What are you doing here?" Rapunzel demanded.

"To visit you, of course," her mother said as she stepped into the room, and Rapunzel held Charlotte and Alex tighter.

"I'm not going with you, if that's what you want."

"You should have learned your lesson by now, my pet," her mother said as she stopped by her adoptive daughter's side. Rapunzel cradled her children to her chest and turned away from the other woman.

"I'm not your _anything_. Please leave."

"I just want to see my grandchildren. They're your prince's, right?"

"Of course they're James'," Rapunzel retorted. "But they're not your grandchildren. I am never letting you see them, and I know that my _husband_ will agree with me."

"Rapunzel," her mother said, sitting down on the edge of the hospital bed, "come with me. I can keep you and your children safe."

"I'm perfectly safe where I am, thank you very much." Rapunzel settled a whimpering Alex on her lap, Charlotte still nestled in her left arm.

"Your precious prince will never protect you or your children." Her mother reached out a hand to Alex's cheek and Rapunzel's hand immediately hovered over the nurse call button.

"If you touch either of my children, I will call a nurse in and they will remove you. I will tell them I don't know who you are and you could end up being arrested. Don't. Touch. My. Children."

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing to my family?"

A wave of relief swept over Rapunzel as she looked up to see James in the doorway; her mother turned to give him a condescending look, and he strode into the room, furious.

"Wait. You're Rapunzel's mother."

"How observant. All I want is my daughter back and my grandchildren with me."

"We are not going anywhere with you," Rapunzel replied, glaring at her adoptive mother. "You kept human contact from me for nearly my entire life, and when I found someone I was happy with, you nearly blinded James!"

"That is no concern of mine," her mother said with a shrug. Alex began to cry on Rapunzel's lap, and James reached down to take him, but Rapunzel's mother picked up the infant first.

Frightened, Rapunzel immediately pressed the nurse call button, pressing her daughter to her chest as her son wailed in his adoptive grandmother's arms. An alarm blared outside the room, and Rapunzel's mother's gaze shifted from her grandson to the hallway.

"If you hurt him, I will ensure that you will regret ever stepping into this room," James promised.

"Mother, please–" Rapunzel begged, tears in her eyes and terror coursing through her veins like ice as Charlotte's cries joined her brother's howls.

Running footsteps were heard outside the room, and her mother all but shoved Alex into James' arms before striding out of the room. He carefully cradled Alex, trying to quiet his son as a nurse hurried in. "Is everything alright?"

"My mother was here," Rapunzel managed to gasp out.

"I think she was going to do something to our son," her husband explained.

"Where is she now?"

"She just took a right down the hall," James offered, and the nurse went to the door.

"Are all of you alright?"

"Yes."

"We will try to apprehend her," the nurse promised, and left the room.

"They're not going to catch her," Rapunzel said in a low voice before pressing a kiss to Charlotte's forehead as her daughter quieted.

"At least they can try," James said, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed as his wife gently cupped the top of Alex's head with a trembling hand, blinking rapidly to hold back tears.

"Hey, hey," her husband said, taking her hand in his. "It's okay."

"Do you think I'm going to turn out like my mother?"

"Why would you say that?" James said sincerely, clasping her hand.

"She was all I had for a mother growing up. I rarely contacted anyone else. What if I treat my children the way she treated me without realizing it?"

Still holding Alex in one arm, James let go of Rapunzel's hand and brushed away the tear that fell down her cheek. "I know you won't, because you learned from experience. You know what was damaging and what worked. We'll figure it out together, alright?"

She nodded, tears coming to her eyes again. But this time, they were not from fear, but an outpouring of affection for the man who soothed their son as the hour-old infant began to whimper.

* * *

><p>"We've tried everything," Rapunzel said desperately, patting Alex's back as she lay her crying son against her shoulder.<p>

"We tried feeding them," James listed off, gently rocking Charlotte in his arms as he paced in the nursery.

"Yes."

"They have clean diapers. They rejected toys and binkies. A change of scenery didn't help." He sighed as their daughter continued to wail. "I don't know what else to do. Do you think we should call my mother or something?"

Rapunzel scanned the nursery, wracking her brain for anything they had forgotten. Feeling herself begin to tense from stress, she began to hum the old, familiar tune that always calmed her.

Alex hiccupped on her shoulder as she continued to hum, and Rapunzel saw James pause in his pacing as Charlotte's cries lowered in pitch.

"I think it's working," he said with a relieved grin. "Maybe if you tried singing out loud...?"

She did as he requested, keeping her voice low and lilting. It didn't work right away, but Alex and Charlotte eventually quieted. Rapunzel exchanged a glance, and as she continued to sing, they both carefully placed the twins in the crib. Charlotte yawned as Alex coughed, but after a minute or so, both infants fell asleep.

Rapunzel let her voice trail off into a sigh, holding her breath and praying that their children would keep sleeping. When neither twin stirred, she looked at her husband, who pulled her into an embrace as she rested her cheek on his chest.

"We did it," she whispered.

"At least we know what works now," James murmured. He dropped a kiss to the top of her head and sighed. "Let's get some sleep ourselves."

"Good idea." Rapunzel regretfully stepped out of his arms and turned the light off as James followed her to the door. Only when she heard their children's soft breathing did she leave the nursery with her husband.

Both exhausted, they did not speak as they both got ready for bed. Rapunzel crawled onto the mattress after changing and pressed her face into her pillow. She registered that the lights in their bedroom were turned off, and felt her husband get into bed beside her, but did not stir. Half-asleep, she felt James running his hand through her short hair; blinking sleepily, she turned her head to look at him.

"We survived our first night with day-old twins," he said in low voice, and she smiled.

"We still have the rest of the night and the morning for them to wake up."

"True." James stretched with a yawn, and she shifted to curl at his side. He wrapped a loose arm around her and whispered her name; when she looked up at him in the darkness, he gave her a soft kiss.

"Thank you giving me everything I could have dreamed of," he said in a low voice when they broke apart.

She gave him a tired smile. "Thank you for turning my life upside down in the best possible way."


End file.
